Storage-battery container



July 7, 1925.

W. E. HOLLAND STORAGE BATTERY CONTAINER ,i Filed July 8, 1919 4 Sheets-'Sheet l /6 K5 mmmm` 6 @MS wnew- July 7, 1925.`

w. E. HOLLAND STORAGE BATTERY CONTAINER Filed July 8, 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 7, 1925.

W. E. HOLLAND STORAGE BATTERY CONTAINER 4 Shets-Sheet 5 Filed July 8, 1919 W. E. HOLLAND STORAGE BATTERY CONTAINER Filed July 8, 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 July 7, 1925.

Patented July 7, 19,25.

UNITED STATES 1,545,328 PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER E. HOLLAND, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO PHILA- DELPHIA STORAGE BATTERY COMPANY, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A.4

CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

STORAGE-BATTERY CONTAINER.

Application led July 8,

To all whom z't may concern: v

Be it known that I, WALTER E. HOLLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented I Storage-Battery Containers, of which the following is .a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a container of novel construction especially adapted for the reception of the electrolyte l0 and electrodes of a battery, particularly of the lso-called `secondary or storage type; which container shall possess increased strength and stiffness, shall not tend tol soften and become bulged at high temper- 1l atures or become brittle and crack at low temperatures, and Which shall be leak-proof and practically unbreakable under conditions of service.

My invention further contemplates a bat- A tery container of such construction as shall lserve as a cushioning means for preventing the transmission of damaging shocks or vibrations to the plates and separators which it contains, thereby materially lengthening the life of the battery in certain classes of service.

A further object of my invention is to provide a battery container which may utilize as itsl frame structure a. mechanically strong but corrodible material such v-as steel and which shall include electiveineans for j insulating and protecting this material throughout the life of the battery fromthe corrosive action of the electrolyte as well v as from rust.

I also desire to provide a novel unitary form of multi-compartment container having great rigidity, compactness and strength without brittleness and which shall be capable of retainin its good qualities under all conditions o temperature, so that it may be used successfully without the customary wood case or other vexternal means of support; such container thus providing a simple, durable structure available for use in place of the non-durable wood and breakable hardprubber structures hitherto employed,^and at the same time, saving space and weight or, conversel making it possible to provide a greater attery capacity in Y a rgriven space. v hese objects and other advantageous ends cI attain as hereafter set forth, reference 1,919,A serial no. 309,335.

being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a transverse verticabsection of a storage battery cell including a container and plate supporting structure made in accordance with my invention;

Fig.l 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of a multi-compartment. container embodying'the vital features of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section of a modified form vof cell construction.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section illustrating the detail construction of one form of thewall of a container made in accordance with my invention; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary elevations, the first partly in section, illustrating a modiied form of my invention.

In Fig. 1 of the above drawings, 1 represents the container of a storage battery cell in which are mounted alternated positive and negativel plates 2 and 3 with interposed separators 4.' The upwardly projecting lugs 5 of these two sets of electrodes or plates are respectively connected by` two terminal straps 6 and 7, of which the first has a terminal post 8 and the second has a similar post 9 projecting above the plane of., the top of the container. L

The cell is normally closed by a cover 10 of insulating material provided with suitable openings for the passage of the terminals 8 and 9, in additlon to which it has a filling opening normally closed by a gas venting plug or cap 11. This may be removed for the addition of liquid and is so formed as to permit of the escape of gas without permitting the escape of liquid. The cover 10, in the construction shown, is held in'place by sealing compound 12 which4 fills the channel formed between its outermost flange and the inner faces of the container 1.

In accordance with my invention the container 1 consists of a box 13 of sheet metal nsuall steel, either pressed up in seamless form rom a flat sheet or formed with seams from one or more pieces suitably shaped and folded, welded, 'soldered or otherwise joined l together." This metal box or body is provided with an inner coating 14 and outer coverin 15 of insulating acid-proof material suc as soft or semi-hard rubber, bakelite, condensite, gutta percha, ycelluloid or other material havin the necessary insulating, electrolyte-proc and mechanical ualities, whereby access to the metallic bo y 13 of the liquid employed in the container is effectually prevented.

In the preferred form of my invention the insulating covering for the sheet metal body 13 is bonded to .the latter and in case sheet steel is employed for said body and rubber is used for the protective covering, it is advisable that the inner and outer surfaces of the body be first coated with a la er 16, Fig. 5, of some material which will orm a substantially inseparable bond with it as well as with the rubber which is usually of the soft or -semi-hard variet This-bonding material between the body 13 of the container and the protective covering consists preferably of a metal such as antimony, bismuth or arsenic or an allo containing at least one of these metals, or example, an alloy of sixty parts copper,y thirty-eight parts zinc and two arts antimony, electrolytically or otherwise deposited upon the sheet steel and capable of bonding with rubber at the vulcanizing temperature. Instead of the metal bonding material any suitable cement or gum may be used between the metal body 13 and the protective covering of insulating material. If desired the metal box 13 ma itself in some cases be made of bonding with rubber during vulcanization so that the cement or intermediate bonding I- layer 16 may insuch case be omitted.

In building the container, the sheet metal body 13 may have raw rubber compound applied to its inner and outer surfaces, preferably under pressure in suitable molds, after which it is subjected to the treatment necessary to vulcanize the' latter. In the case illustrated I have shown a separate piece having plate-supporting ribs or strips 18 placed in the bottomrof the cell 1 so as to supportthe plates or electrodes 2 and 3 above said bottom. These ribs exteixd across said container and are properly spaced and supported by one ormore transverse strips or rods 19, the whole being preferably mold.- ed into onepiece of hard rubber or other suitable insulating material, although if desired, the ribs may be vulcanized integrally soas to receive support from the inner coating of rubber. In any case the ribs 18, and therefore the plates carried thereby, are yieldingly supported or cushioned both by the inner and outer rubber layers of the frame r box. l

One important feature of m inventlon residesin the provision of a mu ti-compartment container which isA practically unbreakable, leak-proof and mechanically strong and which as other qualities, such as ability tol withstand high temperatures without softenin or bulging and freedom from be- .Outer coating 20 also of insulating material whereby they not only have their exterior surfaces protected from corrosion and electrically insulatedv but in addition are held together as a single unitary structure, there being in addition sheets or layers of insulating material 21 extended respectively between and bonded with the adjacent faces of the boxes.

In constructing this form of my invention, the metal boxes first have their inner soft rubber or other protective linings 14 applied under pressure in a mold, or b any other suitable process, after which the intermediate bonding sheets 21 are placed between their adjacent faces. All of them are then wrapped and bound together with a sheet or series of rubber sheets extending over their side and bottom surfaces, the whole structure being finally subjected to a vulcanizing` process whereby, as above noted, all of its arts would be permanently connected to orm a unitary multi-compartment structure.

Instead of providing a number of indendent metal boxes or bodies as shown in iis. 2 and 3, I ma use a single large body or ox, a portion o which is shown at 22 in Fig. 4, in which any suitable number of metallic partitions 23 are united,Vv by lwelding or otherwise, with the suitably formed side and bottom members tol form a unitary multi-compartment metal container 4having compartments or chambers of n approximatel the same form and dimensions as those o'f t e' container shown in Fig. 2. Thereafter f the inner and outer surfaces of this metall body would be given an insulating rotecting covering lei- 20, it being un erstood that in all of the above cases a bonding layer of cement metal or other material 16 is applied or omitted as required by the particular materials and construction lem- 'ployed for the metal body and the protec- `gether b integral bodies of rubber which extend t rough the perforations 25. A ny handles 26 required are preferably made of suitably shaped sheet Ametal pleces spot process consists of a structurally stiff sheet metal body which is relatively light and strong and at the same time electually protected from rust and from corrosion or injury by the electrolyte. Moreover the Walls of this container in those forms of the invention shown in Figs. 2` toll inclusive, occupy considerably less space than is ordinarily required for the containers and wooden box or tray hitherto necessarily employed in batteries and, conversely, greater battery capacity can be provided ina given space. Obviously the container is not injuriouslyaected by temperature changes or by the highest temperatures encountered in storage battery work, since it will neither bulge nor soften and will not crack at low temperatures. In case rubber or similar elastic material is used as the protective covering, its resiliency causes it to absorb injurious shocks or vibrations otherwise transmitted to the contained battery plates ila'riid thereby tends to increase their useful I claim:

1. The combination in a battery container of a plurality of metal boxes; with a protective covering of rubber vulcanized to the inner and outer surfaces of said box as well 2. A. battery container consisting of a'- metal frame; handles; and a resilient protective material covering said frame and handles.

3. The combination in a battery container of a plurality of structurally independent sheet metal boxes; with insulatingprotective material covering the surfaces of said boxes and bonding them together into a unitary structure.

4. The combination in a battery container of a plurality of structurally independent sheet metal boxes; with insulating rotective material covering the inner an outer surfaces ofy said boxes and bonding them together into a unitary structure, said material extending between the adjacent portions of said boxes and electrically insulating them one from the other.

5. The combination in a battery container of a metal box; metal handles fixed thereto; and a rubber protective covering for the box and handles.

6. The combination in a battery container of a metal box; metal handles fixed thereto; and an insulating coating extending continuously over the inner and outer surfaces of said box and enclosing the handles.

In witness whereof I aix my signature.

WALTER E. HLLAND. 

